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2024
P O RT F O L IO
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
CAROLINE McCORD
01.
ZENITH
a space age barstool
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duration: 12 weeks
individual project
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01 Make furniture that speaks.
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04 Create a piece of furniture composed of at least 50% wood that pays
attention to fine details and craftsmanship, while having a compelling narrative.
The Space Age
choosing a narrative
The Space Age inspired furniture that
01 embraced sleek, aerodynamic forms,
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02 featuring new materials like molded plastics,
04 fiberglass, and metals. Key aspects of the style were bold colors, sweeping shapes, and a sense of weightlessness. One of my challenges is to create similar gestures to plastic chairs in wood.
Creating a comfortable sitting experience.
ergonomic research
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I narrowed in on barstools because of their 01 sitting posture. The elevated stance while 02 sitting is reminiscent of a rocket taking off. 04 Other ergonomic considerations were
footrests, essential for reducing pressure on the legs, and seat depth and width to ensure a range of body types could sit comfortably.
Maintaining the inspiration in the design.
ideation
i like how the spreaders slightly mimic the angle of the back legs
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intrigued by the almost cantilevered seat
Getting a sense of proportion.
1/6 scale modeling in bass wood
too bottom-heavy
solid backrest too bulky
part lines mapped out to match form and lower wood costs
taller back rest
more stable front leg angle
cohesive foot rest and support bars
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more 70s than 60s
backrest too thin
front leg angle too steep (unstable)
back support bar too low, breaks the form
less spacey than others
The Space Age
joinery research
I went into Solidworks to precisely model out
01 the components for control drawings.
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02 This was helpful because it showed assembly
04 sequences, tolerances, and how individual joints fit together.
For this chair I use lap joints and mortise and tenons.
Real human testing!!
pre-final model
From this model I learned that I needed to
01 reduce the overall height, increase the
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02 distance between the seat and the
04 footrest, and rework the joints for the backrest.
Construction
final model
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I laminted most of my mahogany to make 01 the lap joints, and I used an angled jigsaw 02 to cut out the tenon for the seat. Overall, I 04 was able to build this model in 9 days.
How I incorporated my inspiration
final model
This barstool has sweeping side supports that
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01 guide the viewers eye upward towards the 02 floating seat and backrest. The inside of the 04 feet are routed to make it appear as if the
stool is ready for liftoff.
Zenith
a space age barstool
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02.
WRIN
GIA Housewares Competition
duration: 10 weeks
in collaboration with Daniel Poss & Noah Swaim
Identify products or tasks in peoples’ homes that are considered to be undesirable, and find a solution that is meaningful and beautiful.
Finding what people dislike.
photo ethnography
Roommates are unable to keep track of who’s food belongs to who causing tension when snacks disappear.
Blinds and curtains allow for privacy but are unable to properly block out all light for light sleepers.
Iron face is fully exposed, could cause serious injury or house fire.
Dirty dishes pile up in sink causing smell and making the chore even more undesirable.
Pots and pans are thrown into cabinet in disarray.
pictures by Caroline McCord, Daniel Poss, and Noah Swaim
What’s already out there?
market research
While looking for products that currently exist we discovered that most irons have a “spaceship-esc” silhoutte. There’s not a lot of innovation currently but people still buy irons anyways. Aside from steaming options, irons only require a thin nichrome coil and theromstat, meaning we can make a less bulky product than what currently exists
on the market.
same dial placement
same handle placement
same flat back to turn iron up
streamlined nose
People are leaving their irons unattended while they are still super hot!
The most dreaded part is putting away the ironing board after finishing a task
Can’t tell when the iron needs to be cleaned
BIGGEST TAKEAWAY
“Actually getting wrinkles out of clothes is maybe 15% of the process, the longest parts are set-up and clean-up.”
Product must-haves.
design criteria
Efficient
speeding up the ironing process from start to finish.
Protective
working around users’ current behavior while keeping them safe.
Comprehensive
making ironing an easily understood and sensible event.
Diverse
the ability to be used in different situations on a variety of materials.
Experiencial
how a user positively interacts with and experiences a product, system, or service.
detachable water tank
feet to keep hot iron face off of surfaces
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different style of hand placement that was more ergonomic
What about the board???
encountering a bump in the road
We were so zoned in on redesigning the iron that we under emphasized the importance of the ironing board. So we had to not only design an efficient board, but one that
00342
iMron away your worries e
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Lower the ironing board.
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Arrange fabric as desired.
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Grab your fully charged iron from the dock.
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Apply settings as needed and start ironing.
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Put the iron up.
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Lift the board back into its upright position.
Preparing the Wrin.
detachable water tank
The detachable water tank makes this iron easy to maintain. There’s a lower chance of internal electronics getting damaged and its easier to wash any residue out of the water tank.
rubber gaskets
Render by Daniel Poss
A cohesive system.
0011 ironing board slide
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03 need to put upated renders
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you’ll never have to worry about charging your iron.
asymmetrical neck fits collars and sleeves easily
all ironing items in one place, no searching required.
03.
CLEARSPOT
drug test re-design
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duration: 3 weeks
individual project
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01 Fight drug overdose.
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03 Design a solution to combat the effects of the Opioid Crisis
using empathic modeling methods.
What is the Opioid Crisis?
getting context
107,543 people died of drug overdoses in
01 2023. About 75,000 of these deaths were
02 caused by a synthetic opioid called fentanyl.
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03 The lethal dose of fentanyl is pictured in the
figure on the right, next to the penny. Many recreational drug users are unknowingly buying drugs that have been secretly cut with fentanyl.
What can we work with?
market research + interviews
After analyzing different types of health tests
01 I learned that current fentanyl test strips
02 show two lines if the opiate is NOT present.
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03 This is directly opposite of typical pregnancy
tests where two lines means somone IS pregnant.
Investigating pre-consumption solutions
ideation
01 I mainly focused on solutions that acted
02 before drugs had been taken. Ultimately
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03 I went in the direction that provided a
clean workspace which encourgaed more accurate test results more consistently.
Concept refinement
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waiting area for test strip
channel guides solution to strip
deep well to mix solution
Current test trip indicators.
top layer protects unused strips
New plus sign indicator when fentanyl is present.
Sequence of Use
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What’s next?
things to improve for the future
To further iterate I want to figure out how to
01 incorporate water storage into the design so
02 that the user doesn’t have to have any external
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03 items to use the product. The caveat for
this is that I would probably have to make it a single-use item instead of storing
multiple strips.
Clearspot.
an improved drug test experience
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04.
MOBILE CITY LIFE
design methodology research sprint
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duration: 3 days
in collaboration with:
Avery Beard, Carmen Cutrona, Catherine Russell
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01 How can we bring the city back to life?
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Initial questions
research
How is the city of Mobile layed out?
What resources are available to Mobile?
1. Why do people visit Mobile?
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What type of people live in Mobile?
What is the city’s history?
2. How does Mobile’s history influence its culture?
Observations + Takeaways
research
Mobile has a rich cultural history as Alabama’s oldest city. The people that live here share a strong sense of
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01 community and there is a high turnover
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03 rate for businesses.
Insights:
Not a lot of directional signage
High homeless population near Gov. St.
Everyone knows everyone (especially in the food industry)
Mardi Gras is highly promoted (what does the city have to offer besides that?)
Opportunity framing
analysis
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01 We are designing a campaign for
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03 possible visitors that encourages them to stay in Mobile for more than Mardi Gras!
Design Criteria
analysis
We synthesized all of our observations and
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01 insights into concise criteria that we needed 02 to address in order to ensure we were solving 04 the intial problem we set out to explore.
Persona
analysis
Based on our interviews, the average person
01 visiting Mobile is typically staying for
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02 business conventions.
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Our persona is a single, business driven food enthusiast thats interested in history and loves social settings.
Ideation
conceptualizing
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The results of our research drove us towards 01 a general direction: incorporating water into 02 the city. After all, its callled Mobile Bay for a 04 reason.